


The storms we weather

by grimtactician



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I love Thor and I love Shuri, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Rain, Shuri is amazing, Spoilers, They'd get along, Thor is a Big Soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 01:31:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14533764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimtactician/pseuds/grimtactician
Summary: With kingdoms decimated, and loved ones gone in the blink of an eye in the span of days, two people finally allow themselves room to feel as the sky breaks around them.(Or: I love Thor and Shuri and they're both given so much to bear and it's heartbreaking.)





	The storms we weather

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine being 16 years old and having to become the leader of a powerful nation plunged into chaos and despair all while having had to watch your brother die twice. Sh'd probably try to be so strong, and firm and b/c shes so young and shits hard and these are tough times shed probably find it necessary to keep up this mask of "I'm fine everything's fine, I.Will. not.break.' and okoye would probably be dying inside but not know how to help (shes doing the same thing tbh)  
> Thinking about Shuris role post IW (shes alive ok) hurts me
> 
> Thinking about how in IW thor tries to comfort and give hope to those around him while hes in all that pain hurts me
> 
> I think Thor would feel heartbroken for Shuri b/c he'd see himself in her, but like, shes 16 and he'd just...be so upset over it and try to help because Thor is the best and i love him.
> 
> Anyways suuuper self indulgent and, as always unbetaed (how tf do u spell that??) and written at ungodly hours as i procrastinate.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and sorry about anything weird or funky sounding! Not great at dialogue! I pray they're at least a little in character.  
> i tried to italicize again but alas...i'll edit it in once i figure it the fuck out but for now, sorry :/  
> sorry for any age or movie discrepancies.

Thor wakes with tears in his eyes and a scream in his throat. He lays in his bed, chest heaving as he tries to take in large gulps of air. He feels like he’s drowning drowning drowning, the guilt and loss filling his lungs (and heart and mind and veins) instead of the oxygen that this planet so generously provides. He lays there as he tries to control his breathing, hands fisted in the bedsheets tangled around his sweat-soaked body. 

He sits up and looks around the beautifully decorated room. Wakanda is a miracle made manifest. Rich textiles, woven baskets and furniture and technology mixed together to create a lavish, comfortable room. In the daytime it is warm, inviting, offering solitude and quiet in a world steeped in fear and chaos. Right now, however, images of his nightmare still dancing at the corners of his mind and vison, it feels stifling and much too small. 

He rips the covers off himself, puts on his boots and all but runs out of the room and into one of the palace hallways.

He passes several rooms and hallways as quietly as he can. From the palace windows he can see the moon breaking through the clouds, it illuminates the palace grounds, casting shadows and gleaming off fountains and small creeks that weave throughout the gardens. He takes a left down a large corridor and finally finds his way outside. 

 

The night air is cool and swift. It cards through his fingers and his uneven hair and instantly, he feels himself settle, if just a little. The sky is overcast, and in the distance, he can see the growing mass of clouds gathering together. Thor prefers days and nights like this, with gigantic mountains of clouds filling the sky. It makes the world seem _larger_ , deeper. It makes him feel small and insignificant in a way that is calming. The weight of responsibility, of legacies and legends and expectations seem, if only for a moment, smaller. He feels _human_.

____This time however, it only lasts for a brief, solitary second, a reminder that this time, his problems are bigger than the sky---and all the skies in the galaxy. This problem is as deep as the very darkness that makes up the universe and all its stars and planets and life forms._ _ _ _

____His pain and grief too, are bigger than before._ _ _ _

____He continues through the gardens and sighs as he comes to a stop near a gazebo at the center of an area full of trees and shrubbery. A creek comes in through the tree line, circles the gazebo and disappears off into the distance, further down into the gardens. He leans against one of the sides of the gazebo, and is about to let out another sigh when he hears sniffling from behind one of the large potter plants._ _ _ _

____He stills momentarily as the sniffling continues, and then relaxes again._ _ _ _

____“Good evening your highness. The night is rather beautiful today, why don’t you come sit next to me, the ground must be pretty damp.” He pats the railing above his shoulder and sends a small smile towards the direction of his hidden companion._ _ _ _

____“Good evening to you too your highness. And please--just...just Shuri is fine.” Her voice is hoarse from crying, and her hair is down, falling down her back and over her shoulders. She grabs a braid as she stands, fidgeting with it as she makes her way over to him. She gives another small sniff and she comes to stand next to him. “You were right, the ground was damp. I think I’ll stand here instead. Don’t really want to sit again.”_ _ _ _

____He gives her a sideways glance and kindly says “I welcome your company, and just Thor will do.” He gives her a small, broken smile. There is no king without a kingdom, without its people and he has neither. the despair begins to once more claw its way out his stomach before he can even blink. He pushes it down with a small grunt, and clears his throat._ _ _ _

____She leans against the gazebo wall and stares up at the moon with Thor. “It looks like it’s going to rain tomorrow… I love the rain, it makes everything look so much more vibrant. Alive. When I was little, I would jump in as many puddles as I could, I loved feeling the mud between my fingers. Baba never scolded me, but then again, he never had to worry about cleaning up after me” she smiles sadly, and her chin quivers as she continues “It was always...it was always my brother who would make sure I didn’t make a mess. He would chase me as I ran through the halls. I hated baths you see” She laughs and it’s a wet sound. From the corner of his eyes, he sees her quickly reach up and wipe at her eyes._ _ _ _

____“My brother and I, we used to sneak out as it was raining. We would go down to the forest and I could always make it rain just a little harder around us.” He smiles fondly at the memory “He loved the big water droplets as they came down on us, and we would splash and lay in the puddles as it poured and thundered. We were safe from the lightning, it never dared hit me, and therefore, it never hit him.” Shuri looks up at him and she looks so young. “He---Loki he always made sure that we cleaned ourselves before going back inside. He was gifted with magic even back then. He was--- my little brother, he was so mischievous and smart, tongue smooth as silver. He could get himself out of anything.” _Even death it seemed_. He chuckles and its almost turns into a sob, but he pushes past it. Instead he sniffs loudly and looks to her.___ _

______She is 16 and she is one of the strongest people Thor has met in his life. 16 and able to stand at the front of the palace steps, taking up a mantle much too heavy for anyone, let alone one so young. 16 and looking out into a sea of people, grieving and lost and scared, looking for something, anything to hold on to. A fixed point, an anchor against the storm of loss and chaos that has descended on their home. She is 16 and she stands, tall and proud in spite of the loss and fear mingling in the pit of her stomach, setting sun casting a shadow that stretches all the way past the steps and into the gathered crowd as she brings her arms across her chest and speaks. It is a promise of retribution, of vengeance and of hope all in one as she shouts _“Wakanda Forever!”_ and she brings her hands down to her sides, chin up in defiance of a universe unraveled. Shuri is 16 and there is a storm inside of her, glimpses of it visible in her dark eyes, the small trembles in her hands and in the sharp breaths she allows herself to take when it is just her and the general. Thor looks at her and sees the same weight that’s draped across his shoulders, but hers are so much smaller and his heart aches for her. He sees Loki’s wit and his sharp mind in her, he was always the smarter of the two of them thought he is no fool himself, but in her he sees traces of how Loki once was, when they were younger and life was kinder. To see someone so young carry similar burdens to his own is too much. The universe is again, too cruel and cold to bear. ___ _ _ _

________And yet, the Princes. _No. The Queen_ , looks at him as she lays a small hand on his arm and tries to smile tearfully up at him.___ _ _ _ _ _

__________“He sounds like a good brother.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He chuckles, and, voice rough says, “He often was. I loved--- I love him. Many times, he loved me too, in spite of our differences. But I was a fool, and we were both blinded by our hurts and our greed and so we often hurt each other. He, my brother he did some very bad things, but I do not think he was really _himself_ when he did the worst of them… We had finally begun to mend our relationship, and I had hope...despite the loss of our home, and family, and in spite of the heavy weight on our shoulders...I had hoped that we would reign together. That we would eat dinner, laugh, fight, and cry together as we had in the past. But now---” He chokes on a sob, and he reaches up to quickly wipe at his eye “now I don’t think we’ll ever get the chance.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He looks down because he cannot keep his head up any longer. After days of trying to push his feelings aside, of trying to be strong for the others, he cannot do it anymore. The loss of everything he had finally clawing its way up his chest and out of his throat in chocked sobs as he finally allows himself to _feel.____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The _Queen, Shuri_ , gets in front of him now, and holds both his arms. She looks up at him and she is crying, tears freely streaming down her face as her chin trembles and lips wobble. “I want to laugh with my brother too! I want to laugh with my father and with my mother and I want to eat with them and show them my new inventions and I want them here, with me!” She sobs as she clutches onto his arms. “I don’t want to be Queen, it should be my brother. I lost him once I don’t want to lose him again! I’m not ready, I’m not strong enough. I try, and I try but I cannot anymore! I feel as though any day I will shatter or turn to dust like mother and my brother, and I am so _scared!_ I’m scared and I don’t know what to do but I _need_ to!” She finally looks down as she sobs and Thor can do nothing but stand still as they both cry._______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Thunder rumbles overhead and then the sky opens up and big, fat raindrops pummel the ground. In seconds they are soaked to the bone, yet they do not move._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Instead of drowning Thor feels himself becoming lighter, as the rain washes over him, and tears fall down his face, the thunder and rain concealing their shared sobs. They stay like that for a while before either of them speaks._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“It appears it has started to rain” yells Shuri, and even though it’s pouring, Thor hears her all the same._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“You know, I believe you are right. Maybe we should go inside.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________She laughs as lightning dances across the sky, and she lets go of Thor’s arms and instead spreads them out besides her and looks up into the dark, heavy clouds. She walks further ahead and continues to laugh, and if there are sobs mingled in with it here and there, well, it seems like the perfect time for it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Thor steps away from his place leaning against the gazebo wall and looks up into the black sky. Rain and storms are considered bad omens, gloomy depressing things, but in this moment, with Shuri’s laughter and splashing sounds filling the air ( _“Brother look at how big the pond has grown!”_ ) he feels something else besides the chasm he’s had between his ribs these past days. ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________He thinks, perhaps, that this is what it feels like to be content. At peace. Hopeful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________(Happy)___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________He still feels the chasm, the fear and anxiety and guilt clawing at his insides, but the rain---this moment---fills some of the cracks and emptiness, even if just for the moment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________He walks past Shuri and kneels in one of the large puddles that has formed by the trees. Moments later, she joins him and begins to dig her fingers into the mud with an earnestness that sends a pang through Thor’s chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Still, this is the most alive he’s felt in what seems like an eternity and so he quickly joins her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“You have my respect and admiration young Shuri. I cannot imagine the weight you carry, and at such a young age.” He sees her sideways look and lets out a small laugh. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m over 1000 years old, you’re all technically ‘young ones’ to me.” She snorts but shes smiling as she goes back to playing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“You are strong, and proud, intelligent and wise beyond your years. Still, I wish this had not fallen onto you. I know what it’s like, to have such responsibility thrust onto you, and you are doing admirably, but you should not have to.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“I am sorry. But please, my mistake was thinking I could do things alone, but you do not have to. Your general, your people, they would not want you to. Your brother would not want you to. You can turn to others, and you do not always have to be strong.” He looks at her fully now. She senses this and looks at him too._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“I know. It just feel like it’s what we needed right now, but I don’t think I can do it anymore.” She sighs and looks up at the sky. “This whole thing is terrible…it- _it’s shit_. But I will find a way to fix this. I am the smartest person on this planet, and I never give up. I’m stubborn like that, is what my brother used to say, and he was right.” She looks at him, and he sees fire in her dark, dark eyes. “We will fix this Thor, we will beat that monster and we will fix this and we will bring them back.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________“Now I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos." Thor remembers these words, spoken lifetimes ago. The hope had gone out of him after the snap of Thanos’s fingers, replaced instead by anger and guilt and grief. The hope he’d had dwindled to nothing but a sputtering spark at the bottom a chasm.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________He sees the fire in Shuris eyes, and the spark grows and grows and grows._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Yes. Yes, we will. All hope is not lost, we will undo what the mad titan has wrought. You will see your brother again, I’ll make it so, you have my word.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“WE will make it so. Together, remember?” She smiles as she says this, and flicks some mud onto his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________He laughs and looks down at his hands. He has a weapon now, a weapon that withstood all six stones together. He has friends and allies. He has people he needs to avenge, and people he needs to bring back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________They sit in the puddle for a while longer, and when they finally feel the chill seep into their bones, they stand, and together look up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“I really do love the rain. I feel…lighter, cleaner after standing beneath it” She looks down at her pajamas and giggles. “Well, metaphorically speaking”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Thor laughs, and agrees with her. “Let us not wait until the next storm to...talk about this again. I don’t think it helps”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Shuri nods and looks at him.  
“Thank you, I think I needed that.” _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________He looks down at her and puts a hand on her head. “Whenever you need someone, please, do not hesitate. Perhaps I can come to you as well.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________She smiles and removes his hand form atop her head. “C’mon big guy, let’s go get cleaned up and go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________( _“Brother please!” Says an exasperated Loki “let me clean you off before father has our heads!" _)___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________He smiles, nods, and they both begin their trek back to the palace._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________They’re not ok. Far from it, but as the rain continues to fall, and the big, endless sky stretches out above them, they feel what must be peace, even if just for a moment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________They will fix this. They will bring back her brother and mother and everyone else who should be here. Thor will find a way to bring his people back, to protect them, and as he hears what sounds like a raven in the distance, he vows that he will see his brother again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
